A STRONG MARINE!
by Oni Giri Slash
Summary: I DID ALL THAT SO YOU WOULD BECOME A STRONG MARINE! Luffy had to endure being tossed down a cliff, thrown into a forest at night and tied to balloons. This is how he survived...just. WARNING MINOR SPOILERS if you haven't passed Enies Lobby!
1. RAVINE

**WARNING! SPOILERS I'm not sure but just in case this story might contain spoliers concerning Luffy's family and heritage.**

**-Giri does not own One Piece!**

* * *

**A STRONG MARINE! **

Luffy struggled vainly against the strong hand clasped around his rubbery neck. This was it, he couldn't escape this time, his punches, as strong as they were had no effect on his enemy.

"Lemme go!" He screeched, thrashing his limbs through the air.

"Shuddup you good for nothing brat and look down!" The larger man roared, tightening his grip on the neck.

Luffy went silent, biting his bottom lip in worry as he stole a glance down. The dark crevasse howled below his dangling feet, beckoning for him to join whatever slimy thing dwelled at its bottom. His hands began to sweat and his eyes widened, he looked at his captor. "No! Please!" He began his thrashing again, squirming like a fish out of water.

The man holding him over the cliff's lip gave no expression of pity - or any emotion for that matter. "This is for your own good Luffy," he said, slackening his grasp. "One day you'll become a strong marine."

With that he dropped his grandson into the ravine.

"I WANNA BE A PIRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

General Monkey D. Garp chuckled to himself and called after the rapidly disappearing child. "You're to be back by breakfast!" He made his way to the bar; no one dared questioned why he was two grandsons short.

* * *

"Stupid fart."

"Stupid fart," agreed his younger brother.

"Old buffoon."

"Old buffoon," nodded Luffy.

"Stupid old frigging fart shit buffoon."

"Stupid old fri-" Luffy dodged Ace's punch. "OI!"

"No swearing Luffy," Ace warned maturely. He wiped his forehead and looked up. They couldn't see the top as of yet and the sun was setting, the purple shadows made it hard to navigate through the rockiness, loose stones continually gave way under their feet.

"Hmm" the older boy looked to his younger brother, "it's getting dark."

"I'm hungry," Luffy complained, hugging his small body and looking to his older brother for guidance.

"Ugh, you're always hungry." Ace dragged his body over a small ledge and turned to help Luffy.

Luffy clasped his hand and wriggled up beside his brother. "I am not!"

"Are too. Face it, you're a bottomless pit."

At the mention of bottomless pit, Luffy looked down at the one they were in. "We've barely moved," he moaned. "I can't even see the top."

Ace punched his brother playfully on the shoulder. "First one to the top?"

"No point," objected Luffy.

The boy raised a dark eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Because I'm gonna beat you anyway!" Luffy scrambled frantically up the cliff face, intent on flogging his older brother.

"Don't tire yourself…" Ace sighed and began the long ascent, always keeping an eye on his younger brother's behind fading in the darkness.

It was night; pitch black, there wasn't a star or a moon to shed even the slightest light. It was cold, not freezing, but enough to make one's hands clammy and send a slight shiver through the body. Clinging to the side of a crevasse clung two young boys, half way to accomplishing their given task. In a position where they couldn't see the bottom, couldn't see the top and couldn't see where they placed their hands and feet.

Ace frowned as Luffy, having exhausted his energy in his one man race, paused in front of him. "Take…take your time," panted his brother, patting Luffy's feet in encouragement. "Look for good…good supports. Bit by bit, Luffy."

"Ace," Luffy whined, "I'm hungry!"

Rolling his eyes, Ace replied, "What would Shanks say if he heard you say that?"

"Nothing," the young boy grumbled, "he'd just laugh."

"Damn right," grunted Ace, bringing himself up to his sibling's level. "And what would Grandpa do?"

Luffy pressed his face to the rock, gritted his teeth and forced his aching limbs to keep climbing. Ace clapped the small figure on the back, giving the boy a new energy burst.

"Let's show Grandpa!" He mumbled in determination.

"Yeah!" Ace declared breathlessly.

"Stupid old frigging fart shit buffoon."

"Yeah, stupid old frig- Luffy," he warned dangerously.

* * *

General Garp sat himself at the bar with a loud chuckle. "Those two kids don't seem to be coming," he said to Makino as she served him his breakfast. The old general took up his spoon and plunged it into his bowl; he stared at his breakfast-filled spoon and shrugged. "Eh, knew they couldn't do it," just as he was about to eat, a loud explosion filled the entire bar with dust and wood splinters.

Monkey D. Garp stared at the hole, then to the mess, to his empty spoon and finally to the screaming blur which crashed through the opposite wall and landed outside.

* * *

Luffy yawned widely as golden light flooded into the crevasse, illuminating everything that had previously been hidden in the night. He was moving at a snail's pace. Above was Ace, carefully hauling himself between the natural stone-work, he stopped and looked down smiling, his freckles scrunching together, he gave a cheery wave.

Luffy grinned tiredly and waved back – it never occurred to him that he should have used one hand. He was slowly falling backwards and completely unaware of the gravitational sensation, still waving and grinning like an idiot.

He did realise, however, the look of Ace's face. It morphed from weary joy to disbelief and quickly into horror. Luffy felt the stone slip from under his thongs and threw his hands out towards his brother.

"ACE! HELP! I'M FALLING!"

"JESUS LUFFY!" Ace shouted, diving down the cliff face, reaching hysterically for Luffy's hands. Their fingers brushed, Ace thought for a moment he had him, but Luffy, as concentrated as he was, plummeted faster than Ace could fall.

Luffy felt the wind snatching his cries from his mouth.

"GRAB THE BRANCH!"

Luffy opened his eyes just at the branch flashed past him. He reached out, grabbed and clung on for dear life – he couldn't afford to start from the bottom again.

Ace sighed in relief as his younger brother swung safely from the branch. He suddenly became aware of his own fate. "AAH! LUFFY! HELP!" He grabbed Luffy around the stomach and hugged him tightly, breathing rapidly. "Phew," he said nervously. "See Luffy? Nothing to it!"

"Ace!" the boy cried. "I can't hold on!"

"Luffy!"

"Why are you so heavy?" Luffy grunted. "I'M STRETCHING!"

Ace watched in disbelief as Luffy's body began extending, stretching like elastic. Ace broke out in a cold sweat. Rubber bands. He felt Luffy's body stretch to its limit and his feet, along with his brother's, brushed the floor of the ravine. He stopped – and the rubber band started to retract. For a moment he believed it was going to be a slow, gentle climb back to Luffy's other half. It was not to be. Ace opened his mouth to scream, Luffy whizzed past in a smudge of colour, and he climbed the ravine from bottom to top in two seconds flat. Clinging onto Luffy, the two soared high into the air.

"WE'RE FLYING!" Luffy shouted in glee.

"WE'RE FALLING!" Ace shouted in horror. "DO SOMETHING LUFFY!"

Luffy looked at his brother. "Like what?"

"I dunno! Anything!"

Luffy frowned. "Well…I can't think of anything."

Ace rolled his eyes and hit earth.

"Ace!" Cried Luffy as his brother finally opened his eyes. "Ace, are you okay?" He helped him sit up. "I can't believe it, we're alive!" He gasped. "ACE! WE'RE NEVER GOING TO MAKE IT IN TIME! GRANDPA'S GONNA KILL US!"

Ace clutched his head. "I'm sure I died just then."

"ACE!" Luffy grabbed his brother and shook him. "WE HAVE TO HURRY!"

"OKAY! Help me up!"

Luffy did so and watched Ace steady himself.

"We're going to have to run back to the village." Ace informed, he watched Luffy grab a tree and walk, his arm stretching. "W-what are you doing?"

Luffy grinned. "I've got a new technique!"

"AWESOME!" Ace exclaimed with a grin. "What's it called?"

"GOMU GOMU NO…!"

Ace's face went pale, even his freckles went into hiding. His last words, after Luffy screamed his attack, were: "Why 'Rocket'?"

* * *

Garp stepped outside via the newest entrance and looked at his two grandsons' sprawled in the grass. Ace was the first to revive, having enough energy to point at his grandpa and declare: "WE MADE IT!" Though at the risk of sounding slightly hysterical.

Luffy grinned to himself, chewing away happily on the stolen spoon-full of breakfast.

* * *

**Giri: I loved the fact Luffy has a grandpa! And how he trained him! Next chapter - Balloons!**

**REVIEWS! **


	2. BALLOONS

**Giri: Next Chappie! Enjoy!**

* * *

** BALLOONS**

Luffy wriggled is toes into the warm, wet sand as the salty sea lovingly lapped them. He had so wanted to prove to Shanks that he could be a good swimmer, an expert swimmer. Now, with this curse and rubber body he had to contend with staying on the land – or ship, when he finally succeeds in making Shanks take him out to sea. At this, Luffy sucked furiously on his icy-pole.

"You still waiting Luffy?" Ace laughed, sitting himself down on the sand. He looked out to the sea. "You know, Shanks isn't coming back for a few days."

Luffy frowned at the water. "He might come back early," he said.

"Looking at his history," the older boy remarked, "he'd be coming back late…like always. Here," he passed his brother a chocolate muffin. "You weren't back for lunch so Makino told me to give you this."

Luffy looked at the muffin. "YOU'VE PICKED OFF ALL THE CHOC-CHIPS!" He shoved what was left into his mouth and dived at his brother with a muffled war cry.

* * *

Makino tied the end to the last balloon, trapping the helium inside, and joined it with the other hundred or so balloons attempting to lift the chair where sat General Monkey D. Garp. "The boys would love this!" She said, smiling at the thought of their happy faces when they saw the hundreds of balloons. 

"Yes," smirked Garp, taking up all the strings. "Yes, I know they will." He stepped outside the bar. "Now all I have to do is go find the brats. LUFFY! ACE! COME HERE YOU LITTLE RASCALS! GRANDPA HAS SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR YOU!"

Makino smiled to herself and turned to complete the dishes.

* * *

Ace shoved a handful of sand into his sibling's mouth because, although Luffy made the ideal punching bag, hitting him had no effect on him at all – and throwing him into the sea was out of the question. 

Luffy swallowed. "STOP DOING THAT!" He shouted, taking up a cake of wet sand and hurling it at Ace.

The boy dodged it and picked up a rock. "STOP COMPLAINING LUFFY!" He cried, hurling the rock at the freckle-less face. It struck and though it left a slight impression, the stone bounced harmlessly off him.

Just as Ace began contemplating whether he should throw Luffy in the water after all, he heard a voice coming down the trodden path. He turned to Luffy: "Did you hear that?"

The two stood in silence, sloppy sand dripped from between Luffy's fingers, a stick in Ace's fist. They heard the voice – closer.

"ACE! LUFFY! GRANDPA HAS ICE-CREAM FOR HIS TWO FAVOURITE GRANDSONS!"

Luffy clapped his muddy hands in delight. "Ice-cream!" He squealed, digging up the sand to reach his grandpa's bodiless voice.

"Wait!" Ace hurriedly caught up with his brother. "Remember, he tricked us with the same stunt last time! Remember the bottomless ravine?"

"Last time," objected Luffy, "it was chocolate." The young boy sped off and crashed into his grandfather, carrying a sky-full of balloons. Ace blinked – nothing sinister about balloons, he too ran happily up to his grandfather.

Luffy bounced gleefully from the old man's arm. "Ice-cream AND balloons! WOW, THERE ARE SO MANY! Did Maki-"

Luffy and Ace watched in amazement as their arms were bound to their bodies and their grandfather whom they thought, for a split second, was really going to give them ice-cream and had cunningly disguised innocent looking balloons into two dangerous, children-lifting contraptions held them by their feet so that the didn't float away. Luffy was thrashing and screaming.

"I want my ice-cream! Grandpa! What are you doing? LEMME GO! LEMME GO!"

Garp chuckled. "Whatever you say, Luffy," he let go of Luffy's feet and the child began floating away.

"AAAAAAAAAH! ACE! HELP ME! I'M FLOATING AWAY! HELP!"

Ace flailed his arms towards his brother. "LUFFY! DON'T WORRY I'M COMING!"

Garp let his oldest grandson go. "Be strong Marines," he called after them. "You've got until dinner tonight!"

Luffy watched in horror as another air current swept his brother back towards the island while he rapidly drifted out to sea.

* * *

Shanks stood at the helm of his ship, grinning broadly down at his crew, he held a wooden mug to the clear blue sky and shouted: "We are free men of this world! We do what we want, when we want to and whenever we like – which is basically the same thing! We come and go with the tide, our land is the deck and country the sea…" he took a swig of sake, sloping some on his men below. "Who are we?" 

"PIRATES!" His crew roared back.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU, YOU DRUNKEN DOGS, SAY IT LOUDER!"

"PIRATES!" They shouted deafeningly.

"OI! BEN, I DIDN'T HEAR YOU!"

"Pirates," Ben replied dully, lifting his mug an inch before taking a sip.

Shanks made a face and carried on. "AND YOU KNOW WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO?"

His crew roared back. "PLUNDER!"

"NO!" Shanks cried, glaring at them as though they should have known the real answer. "WE'RE GOING TO SHOOT THAT STRANGE THING IN THE SKY DOWN!" He pointed to a faint dot in the sky.

His crew howled their agreement and readied the cannon.

Luffy watched the sea pass below his feet with frightening speed. He had given up calling for a help two hours ago and his island was just a mark on the horizon. He kept his eyes on it, kicking his legs in a swimming motion in hope that he would be able to propel himself in that general direction.

"KAAW!"

Luffy gave a startled cry as he fell closer to the water. He looked up at the white seagull that had landed on the many balloons.

"Go!" He shooed, using his head as a substitute for what his arms would have done – swipe away the stupid creature. "Shoo! Get outta here, dumb bird!"

The seagull rested its beak against the thin film of plastic.

The boy's eye widened. "Nice birdie, don't pop my balloon. Gimme a break!" The seagull plunged it's beak into the balloon with a satisfying 'BANG'. Water seeped into Luffy's thongs as his feet grazed the sea's top.

"NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO!"

In quick succession all but one balloon had gone. Given the strength of urgency, Luffy fought free of his bonds, grabbed the remaining balloon and opened his mouth. "Gomu gomu no…" he broke the plastic between his teeth and inhaled the helium. His body expanded, becoming large, his stomach grew wider and rounder. "Balloon!" He voice came out high and squeaky. Luffy slammed his lips together and continued to float just above sea level. He couldn't even shout for help at the passing ship.

* * *

Yasopp closed one eye and lined the cannon up with the spherical object floating through the sky some way off. He turned to Shanks. "All ready captain!" 

Shanks turned to his men who were eagerly hanging around the cannon. "Who wants to shoot it down?"

His crew threw up their hands in a chorus of: "Me! I do! I wanna shoot the cannon! Oh captain, pick me! Me!"

The red-head captain put his hands on his hips. "Nope, _I'm_ going to shoot the cannon. _I'm _the captain. Stop cramming up the space," he shooed his disappointed crew away from the iron weapon and smartly lit the match. "Ready! Three! Two! ONE!"

The cannon ball flew true and hit its mark not a millimetre off target. The crew cheered as the object fell to the sea below. Shanks was grinning, feeling very pirate-like, but as he watched, the figure deflated and become more human. It cried out for help before falling into the sea.

Shanks grabbed the railings in disbelief, his eyes stained on the place where the person had fallen. "Luffy?" Stripping away his black cloak, Shanks stood on the rails and dived into the sea below.

Ben watched him go and turned to the oblivious, still cheering crew. "Prepare a boat, _now_." The seriousness in his voice made them act.

* * *

Shanks tucked the small boy under the blanket and turned to a dripping Ace. "What in the craziness that runs in your family were you two doing tied to balloons? No," the man raised a hand. "I don't want to know. It probably has something to do with Luffy trying to get a ride on this ship. Too bad he's unconscious, other wise his plan would have been a success." 

Luffy slept on, unaware that he was out at sea, with Shank's crew and on Shank's ship. Ace grinned at his younger brother – he was going to rub it in when they got back to Fusha Village.

* * *

Garp didn't look up from his dinner as his exhausted grandson's took their seats around the table. "Having a ride back doesn't count," growled the old man, stabbing his broccoli with Marine accuracy. "Especially with pirates…" 

Luffy pounded the table with his fork. "Shanks saved me!"

"A strong Marine never needs saving by a filthy pirate," his grandfather snapped back. "You two will be punished," he stood up. "I'm going to think up something suitable." He left.

Luffy looked dully at his meat. "I wasn't even awake."

"Oh you should've been Luffy!" His older brother exclaimed. "Shanks and his crew are awesome! I helped raise the sails, fought off giant sea monsters; I even drank some sake with them!"

* * *

..."But I want to go up on deck!" Ace complained. 

"No," stated Shanks firmly.

"But I want…"

"I don't care."

"Isn't there something I can do?" Ace insisted.

"Nothing," Shanks replied. "Stay here and rest."

"But I'm fine. Really!"

Shanks opened the door. "So?" He closed it and a clicking sound came from the lock.

Ace spent the rest of the journey banging on the door.

* * *

**Giri: Thanks to all your reviews, glad you enjoy these little chapters! Next chapter - Forest! BWA HA HA HAA! Reviews!**


	3. FOREST

**FOREST **

Ace crossed another day off the calendar and stood there, rocking back and forth in his sandals, thinking. Finally he sighed and, shaking his head, the boy exited the bar and strolled wearily along the dirt road.

"ACE!"

He stopped, gathered up his patience and turned to his little brother with a wide smile. "Hey Luffy, what's up?"

Luffy ran up to him, grinned smugly and raised the front of his shirt, exposing his white belly. "I've officially got a six-pack!" He announced proudly.

"Oh boy," Ace muttered, leaning in to observe his siblings stomach. He made a series of thinking sounds whilst the boy smirked away, and finally stood.

"Well…?"

Ace laughed. "Six-pack? You barely have a one-pack bro! _This_ is a six-pack," he raised his own shirt to demonstrate.

His younger brother didn't look impressed. As far as he could tell, the only difference was that Ace's stomach didn't bulge as much as his did – but that meant nothing. Luffy pointed this out to his brother.

"Exactly," Ace lowered his shirt and jabbed a finger into his brother's rubbery gut. "This six-pack tells me that you've been sneaking biscuits behind Makino's back."

"I can't help it," the child whined. "They're so yummy…she's probably fattening me up."

Ace rubbed his hands hungrily. "Yep, for Christmas."

"I AM NOT GOING TO BE EATEN!" Luffy shouted, stamping the ground angrily. "STOP MAKING FUN OF ME ACE!"

"Aww," the older boy pinched Luffy's cheek. "You're so cute when you angry. The girls will love you!"

Luffy growled and levelled his arms, shouting. "GOMU GOMU NO…I CAN'T REMEMBER!"

Ace easily dodged as his brother fell into the dirt. "It's called 'Gatling Gun' Luffy," he said. "Honestly we spent five hours yesterday giving the attack a bloody name!"

The rubber kid picked himself up. "I know that!" He lied, grabbing his upper arm. "Gomu Gomu no…"

* * *

General Garp nodded to himself. He liked this place, he liked it very much. It was a two hours walk to anywhere from anyplace, so he wouldn't be expecting the brats to show up for a long time. It was horrendously thick, which suited him just fine – not mentioning it took five days to cross it completely, which also satisfied him. And the dangerous creatures he found, were just what he was looking for in a dark, death looming, doom ridden forest – it was ideal to find something so useful so close to home.

* * *

Garp clasped his hands together extremely pleased with himself. Now there was one more decision to be made. During the day? Or, during the night? Actually, he had already decided. 

Ace grabbed his brother's arm, yanked it hard, twisted it tightly and flipped the attacker onto his back.

Luffy groaned and looked up as the freckled covered face loomed over him. "Ouch…" he groaned.

"That's one to me little bro," Ace drawled as he helped the lump of rubber to its feet. "Word of advice Luffy, don't stand there and shout your attacks, because, one – you look like a brainless idiot. Two – that makes me look bad. Three – you call your attack _and_ move. Clear?"

Luffy nodded.

Ace nodded back. "Good."

Makino poked her head out the window and looked up the road. "Boys!" She called. "Lunch is ready!"

Luffy punched his brother in the head and scrambled away, not getting any further than two steps…exaggeration, one and a half…his brother brought him to the ground before his little brain had time to call out a counter attack. Even if he could attack, he couldn't. How in the world did Ace tie his arm to that pole?!

Garp entered the bar, just as his grandson's sat their little arses on the stools. It hadn't taken that long to find them this time as he had casually followed the elastic arm tied to the pole down the road – piece of cake.

"Well boys!" He boomed, taking a seat beside Ace. The boy had noticeably gone stiff, forcing food faster down his throat like it was his last meal. "We're going camping!"

Ace choked and began spluttering food back onto his plate.

Luffy, on the other hand, cheered and clapped his hands. "YAY! I love camping Grandpa! Where are we going?"

"Oh," said Garp, inspecting his nails, "I have a place already planned. Well," he pushed back his seat. "We'd better get ready!" the general walked out of the bar, an eager Luffy following him.

Ace groaned, stuffed the plate of lunch into his mouth and rapidly chewed its contents. "Thanks Makino," he said, rushing after his brother and glancing nervously at the calendar. He knew it. His grandfather always made them do dangerous tasks on a Monday.

* * *

Luffy called out to his older brother from beneath the fifty kilo backpack. "Wait up, Ace!" 

Ace stopped as the humped child stumbled upwards. "Luffy, don't you think it's weird that the old fart is taking us camping?" He said, shouldering his own backpack higher.

Luffy made a face. "No…"

"So, the fact that Grandpa is making us travel two hours out of the village, with a fifty kilo backpack and at twelve o'clock at night, isn't in the very least a _little_ suspicious," he raised an eyebrow.

Luffy shook his head sadly. "Ace, Ace, Ace. That's why you'll never be a great pirate like me," he smirked. "You think way too much."

Ace grabbed his brother's shoulder. "No," he snapped, "one can _never_ think too much. All I'm saying that it is weird for us to be out here at this time of night. We're climbing a mountain for pity's sake!"

"LUFFY!" Ace cringed at the voice. "I HAVE A GAME FOR YOU TO PLAY!" The old general boomed in the darkness. His large figure was outlined at the mountain's peak.

The rubber boy squirmed away and charged upwards, ignoring Ace's frustrated snorts.

"Oh!" He cried happily. "What game Grandpa?"

"It's called 'Fetch', boy," the old man hefted the backpack from his grandson's back. "I throw your backpack and you run ahead and find it."

Ace slapped his forehead as the old man hurled the bag into the darkness with Luffy running downhill after it.

"You want to play Ace?" The man asked.

"No no," said Ace, dropping the bag at his feet. "I'll go in calmly."

"That's a good lad," he scooped up the bag and the boy and catapulted them into the night, cackling away to himself. "NOW YOU BE BACK BY LUNCH TOMORROW! WITH YOUR BAGS!"

Ace brushed down his grazed knees and elbows, muttering angrily at the dark trees, fuming over his stupid younger brother and still amazed at how far the old fart had thrown him. He looked up to the dark canopy from which he had fallen, his shape comically outlined by the broken branches.

Ace picked up his bag, struggled it onto his shoulders and called, "LUFFY!"

* * *

Luffy threw wide his arms and caught his heavy bag. "I DID IT GRANDPA!" He shouted. "I CAUGHT IT!" His eyes widened as he stared around himself. It was a dark forest. A very dark forest. "Ace?" he whispered fearfully. "Ace, you there?" 

He was all, all alone.

With a heavy bag…to ease the back pains.

* * *

"Even if I did know where Luffy was," panted Ace, "he's probably already got himself killed. What do I do with him then? Yeah, I can see it..." He raised his stick and brought it down, hacking his way frantically through the undergrowth. "Hi Makino! I found Luffy! What, dead? Pft…well, he might look a little limp, but think of all the useful things you can do with twenty odd kilos of rubber!" 

Ace cautiously stepped over a snag and continued talking to himself.

"Here's the body Shanks, take it out to sea god-damn it. Lower it into the ocean and feel really guilty. Say this over him, 'I was a complete idiot not to take you out to sea once, I'll be much kinder to your older brother'. Aw, Shanks, you're too much…the sun's coming up!" the boy stopped and shielded his eyes. "I hope Luffy has the brains to head east to get home."

* * *

Luffy stood at a fork in the road, scratching his bellybutton and inner-nostril, unable to make a choice. He concluded that there were four ways to go: left, right, back the way he had come and make a path of his own, which, if memory served him correctly was exactly what pirates did. 

Luffy stepped off the path, just as the sun rose in the east…

"East?" the rubber boy halted. Which way was east. If only he had paid more attention in school when they were learning navigation! No, "East" had nothing to do with navigation Luffy remembered, that was the name of the boy that sat next to him. His twin was called West.

Proud that he had figured the whole navigation thing out, Luffy continued forward.

* * *

Ace kneeled and studied the ground. Sandal prints – not his own that was for sure. 

"Luffy."

He stood and faced the fork road in the morning light, suddenly feeling much better now that he knew his younger sibling was on the right track…for once. Who in the world could miss the old sign, nailed to the tree, saying "This way to Fusha village"?

Ace knew his brother was gullible, but he wasn't illiterate…his eyes followed the sandal tracks of the path and into the dense forest.

* * *

"HELP!" Luffy howled and climbed higher up the tree as below him circled hungry crocodiles, snapping their fierce jaws and displaying their sharp, blood tipped teeth. 

The boy had to admit, he had ignored the number one golden rule when dealing with crocs – he smiled. He was mentally punishing himself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! You never smile at a crocodile and you never grin at hippos!"

Below, a hippo joined the throng of reptiles and proceeded to comically bash the tree.

Ace stood on a branch, holding the trunk of the tree which grew at the swamp's edge, and in complete shock. If he was rubber, like Luffy, his jaw wouldn't be hanging somewhere near his ankles – he would have left it at the fork in the road. How in the blazes did Luffy get himself stranded in the middle of the swamp, surrounded by…Ace squinted.

"Twenty crocodiles, five hippos, ten vultures, a shark and a school of piranha." He grabbed a vine and called to his brother. "LUFFY!"

The face he received was very religious – like some poor man seeing the light of god just before his doom. Luffy blinked the tears of relief from his eyes. "ACE! HELP ME!"

The older boy took hold of a vine. "IT'S OKAY LUFFY! JUST STAY CALM!" The child nodded. "NOW I'M GOING TO SWING OVER AND GET YOU, OKAY? LIKE THAT GAME WE USED TO PLAY. TARZAN AND JANE, REMEMBER?"

Luffy wriggled around on his branch. "OH! OH! I WANNA BE TARZAN!"

Ace muttered something under his breath, before swinging across the swamp, grabbing hold of his little brother and soon zooming through the air.

Ace opened his eyes. Had he been unconscious? Yes. Which was odd, he was getting knocked unconscious more and more frequently. Perhaps all those Luffy-inflicted-injuries had jarred some neurons in his brain. Maybe it was permanent? Maybe when he got older he would suddenly fall unconscious for no apparent reason! He glanced at Luffy from under his eyelashes – there he was…the culprit. All safe and sound. Sometimes he wondered why he went through so much trouble to look after the klutz.

Ace sat up – Luffy was just a kid, he'll grow out of it when he's older. Anyway, it looked as though they had practically crossed the forest. Thankfully, the sun was still in the east, so it wasn't midday yet – and he had his backpack. Now, to make his life that little bit easier, Ace would have liked a nice path, so that they didn't have to bush-bash the way out.

Luffy stood up. "I've had an idea!"

Ace almost fell unconscious again.

"And a new technique!"

"Don't leave me in suspense," Ace replied – not sarcastically. These things didn't occur as often as they should.

"It's called Gomu Gomu no Woodcutter!" He stood back, raising a leg as high as it could go – Ace watched his brother's foot disappear into the sky.

With a grunt, Luffy brought his leg and foot down into the midst of trees. Ace watched in fascination as every tree, be it pine or oak, split in half, leaving a cleared path out of the forest.

Luffy looked at his leg. "OW! OWWEE! ACE! ACE! MY LEG! LOOK AT MY LEG!"

The older brother winced – porcupine leg. "Well, you should have thought of that before you did that attack on the trees."

"IT'S BROKEN ACE! IT'S BROKEN! I BROKE IT! LOOK!" He bent the leg in half. "BROKE!"

Ace rolled his eyes. "Could you run on it?"

Luffy sniffed. "No…" He looked up at his older brother. "Ace…" he whined.

"C'mon bro," Ace said cheerily, kneeling down and letting the rubber climb onto his back. He picked up the two backpacks.

Luffy blinked. "You okay?"

"P-piece of…cake," he gasped and began the run back to Fusha village.

"YEAH!" The young pirate wanna-be cried, kicking his brother in the ribs. "WHOO! GO!"

* * *

Shanks leaned back, hungrily wolfing down his sake in the shade of a tree, out of reach from the hot midday sun. Not a person in sight – besides Ben, but he didn't count. And maybe Yassop, but he was keeping his nose to himself for once. 

The captain rolled back his head and closed his eyes. Complete peace.

"SHANKS!"

An eye opened, his head spun around looking for the source of the sound – surely his crew hadn't come back from the treasure hunt _that _fast!

"SHANKS! WHEEE! LOOK AT ME! I'M RIDING ACE!"

Sure enough, two dark head boys came speeding over the hill. The smaller, voiceful one was cheering the larger, redder one on. Shanks blinked, rubbed his eyes and looked again. God, that Ace sure had a lot of drive!

"GO LUFFY!" Shanks hollered after them, waving his bottle of sake in the air and performing a dance similar to standing on hot coals. "WHOOO HOOO! GO LAD!"

* * *

Ace gave one last surge that brought them outside Makino's bar, before he faltered and fell onto his face. 

Luffy scrambled happily from his brother's sweating back. "Good donkey," he cooed, before entering the bar.

"Grandpa!" Luffy cried. "We made it! With our backpacks too! We're really strong!"

General Garp laughed. "Yes you are, lad," he ruffled the small boys black hair. "And you'll grow up to be a fine marine."

Luffy ignored the marine part and accepted his old man's praise. His chest swelling with pride, he followed the large man outside.

"Ace?" Garp asked the unrecognisable lump on the ground.

The freckled boy looked up – again, slightly hysterical. "He called it 'woodcutter'! Heeheehee! Luffy," he turned to his sibling. "DO NOT CALL IT THAT!" He fell unconscious.

Luffy patted his brother's head. "Nah, nah…I'll call it 'Gomu Gomu no Axe'!"

* * *

**Giri **- **well here's another chapter for Luffy and Ace! And it's not the last! Thanks for reviewing!  
Next chapter will be: "ACE LEAVES!"**

* * *


	4. ACE LEAVES

**ACE LEAVES**

Luffy rushed into the bar just as Makino finished serving her customer. "MAKINO!?" he cried, throwing himself at the bar counter. "Ace is leaving!"

Makino looked up and smiled. "I know, Luffy."

The fifteen year old pouted and grabbed a freelancing apple. "I forgot all about it," he consumed the fruit in two bites and grabbed another. "He won't take me with him."

"Have you asked him?"

"I have," the rubber teen mumbled.

…_2o minutes ago…_

Luffy readied himself at the starting line. "I'm going to beat'ya."

"Like hell, small fry," smirked Ace, squaring his body. "You can only beat me in your dreams."

"Nah way," Luffy rejected the idea childishly. "I'm gonna beat'ya this time."

"Yeah yeah."

The two stood at the starting line for a moment longer, staring at the finish with dangerous sibling rivalry.

Ace sighed. "One of use should countdown."

"Oh yeah," the thought dawning on Luffy. "One-two-three-go!"

The two teenagers lurched forward with such ferocity that the ground gave way beneath their feet as they tore up the track – both in hope that they would beat the other.

Ace shoved Luffy. "Will ya stop running 'round like a nut case!"

The young future pirate king swerved sharply to the left, before darting to the right again. He gave his widest grin and answered. "No." He swung his arms and pumped his legs faster, gaining a slight lead to his rival.

Or so he thought.

Ace was flying like a ball of fire to the finishing line, faster then Luffy couldn't even dream of keeping up with. Gritting his teeth together in concentration, the straw-hat kid pulled back his left arm.

"GOMU GOMU NO ROCKET!"

Ace dodged to the right as a left hand flew past grabbing a tree some ways off, soon a blur of red shirt, blue pants, orange hat and goofy grin whizzed by in a fit of giggles. Groaning inwardly at the results to come, he pushed himself forward and found himself running parallel to his brother's attack.

Is that cheating? Ace thought to himself, sweat pouring down his forehead, keeping up with Luffy who was effortlessly and loudly declaring it so, flying above the ground. No, it was called bending the rules.

He decided to 'bend' some himself.

Ace jerked a thumb over his back and said casually; so that his brother wouldn't notice the fact he was rapidly losing his breath in this crazy race: "Makino has meat!"

It was like stopping a bomb in its track. The effect of those words was that great. Years ago it used to be 'ice-cream' – for some reason it had changed to meat and ice-cream no longer worked.

Luffy let go of the tree three feet from the finish and turned back with a hungry grin. "OOOOH! WHERE? WHERE? MAKINO WITH MEAT! OOOOH!"

Ace stormed over the line in a triumphant howl, his arms in the air, screaming his success that he had once again won the race and that he hadn't fallen asleep during it! He paused, caught his breath, turned to his brother, pointed and shouted. "HA! TRICKED YOU!"

It took a few seconds for the sun to rise – pretty good for Luffy.

"Hey!" He cried indignantly. "That's cheating Ace!"

"Na-ah," said the elder, wagging his finger. "Pirates don't play fair, do they?"

"Brothers do," the rubber kid mumbled.

Ace rolled his eyes. "Not the face, Luffy! Could you at least _try_ acting your age?"

Luffy shrugged and turned away from him; slumping his shoulders as he did so.

Ace puffed out a breath and raised an eyebrow. "Don't go try softening me up with the brother talk -"

"Well they do," sniffed Luffy. "An older brother would let his little brother win at least once."

For some odd reason Ace could remember every time he had done exactly that, starting from yesterday too. But that didn't make him feel incredibly guilty for taking advantage of his sibling's immature ways – of course he would have stopped for meat.

Is it working? Luffy schemed to himself, taking a quick peak at Ace's situation. Yep, the guilty face. Luffy always knew the guilty face. It was so obvious, like his freckles had all lined up to spell it out. 'Guilty'. Made him feel a little guilty too – taking advantage of his brother's soft nature for family. Only a little guilty mind you. His brain capacity didn't allow him to hold feelings like those for too long a period.

Next moment he was over it.

"Sorry for tricking you, bro," Ace said sincerely, clapping the red shirt. "I promise I won't do…"

"Look Ace!" Luffy ran forward in excitement, pointing eagerly out to sea. "It's a ship! Do you think Shanks is back?"

Ace cupped his hands around his eyes. "Ah," he said brightly. "They've come!"

"Who?" Luffy asked. He didn't like the surprised look on Ace's freckled face. "What?"

With a sigh, Ace lowered his hands. "I knew this would happen. You forgot, right?"

The boy racked his brains for a reason behind his brother's ominous words. "Err…?"

"I've been talking about it every night at the table for the past three months!"

"Eh? Talking? You don't talk at the table. You eat."

"Well if you had shut that black-hole in your head and used your ears instead of your mouth, you would have known that I was leaving _this afternoon_," he stated firmly.

"Leaving?"

"Yep."

"Where?"

"Far away from here."

Luffy looked back out to sea. "On that ship?"

"Yes." Ace replied.

For a few seconds neither one spoke. Then Luffy turned around with a huge grin. "AWESOME! You can take me with you out to sea!"

"LIKE HELL!" Ace's eyes rolled backwards and he fell forward.

Luffy wasn't remotely worried; his brother did this all the time – 'attention seeking' was what his Grandpa called it. Luffy didn't quite understand what the old man meant by that…but…

Luffy grabbed his hair. "ACE IS LEAVING WITHOUT ME?!" He turned on his sandals and bolted back to town.

* * *

Luffy picked idly at the wooden bench. "I've only got an hour to make him take me," he sighed. "I know he won't though." 

Makino ruffled the boy's messy black hair. "He might."

"No," he stated glumly. "He won't."

"Why not?"

Luffy laid is head on the counter. "He says that I'm not mature enough; I'll be the death of him; that his nerves can no longer handle me; he wants to live to be twenty…blah, blah, blah."

"Maybe," she said thoughtfully, taking up a glass and filling it with juice, "this is Ace's way of making you become a man."

"I am a man," Luffy grunted, taking the glass of juice.

The bar owner leaned down to his ear. "A _pirate_ man," she whispered. "Don't tell Garp I said that. Anyway," she continued, refilling Luffy's empty glass, "if you want to go with Ace you'd better hurry – he leaves in twenty minutes. You know how…"

The boy zoomed out of the bar.

"…prompt Ace likes to be," she finished with a smile.

* * *

Ace looked up the jetty and at the small wooden ship that had made port, this was it – he was leaving. No amount of Luffy's blubbering was going to change his mind. He was set. Determined. One track mind. Resolute. Firm. Definite. 

He took a deep breath and started forward on his long journey.

"ACE! AAACE!"

The young man froze in his tracks as his younger brother bolted to him – with wide, puppy dog eyes. Ace stood his ground as Luffy stopped and bent over to catch his breath. "I'm not taking you and that's that."

Truth be told it broke his heart to say it.

"How come?" The youngster whined. With the help of his rubber ability, his eyes widened. "I want to go with you."

Ace sighed and put an arm around his gullible brother. "Look bro," he said, looking out at the vast sea. "I know you wanna come – dammit, you've been saying it since you were eight. But I'm not going to take you."

"Why," Luffy sniffed.

"Because you're too young," Ace explained, he forced Luffy to look at him. "And because I think it's time that you and I head our own separate ways. I think it would be best for you to develop on your own now, without my influence. So you can become you," he jabbed his finger into his brother's chest. "So you can grow up a bit. So you can become a pirate."

Luffy rubbed his eyes quickly and stood straighter. "Okay…but I'm not young -"

"OH FOR GOD'S SAKE LUFFY!" Ace burst out irritably. "You're fifteen years old! And I'm not having my baby brother following me around like some retarded shadow!"

Luffy pouted. "Fine. But Ace, will I ever see you again?"

Ace ruffled his hair. "'Course freaky, you will. Tell you what; give me three years to become a strong man…"

Luffy snorted.

Ace ignored it and carried on. "After three years, I'll come back to get you, okay? If you're not here, then I know that you've gone to the Grand Line. If you're still here I'll take you with me. Agreed?"

Luffy grinned and nodded. "Yep!"

Ace smiled and headed back up the jetty, waving at his brother. "You become the greatest Pirate King to ever live, Luffy. Don't let me down!"

"I won't," Luffy called back. "You've got a three year head start to find One Piece!"

Ace shook his head and climbed a rope ladder. On deck he continued to wave. "Don't forget to say bye to the old fart for me!"

"Does he know you're leaving?"

"Yeah, I've been telling everyone about it for…uh, don't worry about it," the freckled face man grinned his last grin. "See ya Luffy! Remember…"

"I know, I know," Luffy called, as the ship began to depart. "Get a musician for my crew!"

Ace cupped his hands and shouted back. "NO! A NAVIGATOR, LUFFY! _YOU_ NEED A NAVIGATOR FIRST!"

"A WHAT?"

"A FRIGGING NAVIGATOR, LUFFY!"

"WHAAAT? I CAN COME?"

"LIKE HELL!"

"BYE ACE!" Luffy watched as the ship's oars were lowered into the water and the vessel was soon a speck on the horizon. He had no hope of rocketing himself onboard as a stow-away.

* * *

Garp looked up from the diner table, swallowed his beef and grunted: "Where's Ace?" 

Luffy grinned. "He left."

"When?"

"Today. You just missed him."

General Monkey D Garp looked at his meat. "He never said anything. The skiving brat."

Luffy sat himself at a chair. "He's been saying it every night at dinner for three months."

"You don't 'say' at the dinner table Luffy, you eat," Garp snapped, stabbing his beef viciously. "I thought I explained the rules quite clearly."

Luffy shrugged. "He was talking at the table and -"

"Shut up and eat, boy," bark the general.

* * *

…_six months later…_

Garp looked at his grandson from behind the sheet of paper. "Your grades have plummeted since your rogue brother left," he growled, tapping the paper he was speaking about. "Navigation – failed. Ship repair – failed, apparently you blew the ship up causing injury to twenty of your classmates. I'll forgive you for that Luffy." He cleared his throat. "Maths – failed. Ugh, who needs it anyway. Language…don't need that either. Leadership skills," he glared at the dark head boy, "I definitely can see improvement, lad."

Luffy pulled his finger out of his nose. "I'm the best leader there is!" He declared proudly.

"According to your teachers, you '"accidentally" pushed five of your followers into a bottomless ravine, tied them to balloons and almost killed two of them in a forest'. What bloody madness is this?!"

In response he received two big innocent eyes.

"Anyway," Garp changed his stance, "it appears that you're just not a bright person, Luffy. Don't worry, smartness doesn't run in our family."

Luffy objected: "Ace is pretty smart."

"Ever wondered why your mother and I never called him _Monkey_ D. Ace?"

"No."

Garp rubbed the back of his neck. "Same here."

* * *

**Giri: I hope you enjoyed it! **

**Next and final chapter will be: "LUFFY LEAVES! FAREWELL TO THE FUTURE PIRATE KING!"  
**

**  
**


	5. LUFFY LEAVES

**LUFFY LEAVES!  
FAREWELL TO THE FUTURE PIRATE KING!**

General Monkey D. Garp sucked heavily on his cigar before flicking it onto the ground and twisting it into the dirt with the heel of his marine boot. He casually tossed the baseball into the air.

"You ready, Luffy?" He called gruffly to his grandson, rotating his large shoulders.

The seventeen year old spat on his baseball bat and tapped it on the ground. "Yep!"

Garp sighed. "You're not ready, boy. Hurry up and look tougher."

"I AM READY GRANDPA!" Luffy shouted, raising his bat, "And I am tough."

"I wanna see a strong marine face," Garp barked.

Luffy stuck his tongue out. "I don't wanna -" He lowered his bat in time to meet his grandpa's pitch.

The baseball collided into the wooden bat, jarring Luffy's hands and wrists. A moment later the baseball was shooting into the distance, leaving behind a pile of splinters.

Luffy screamed and turned onto his grandpa. "YOU ALMOST GOT ME!"

"Yeah?" the old man replied, picking up another ball. He raised an eye, "can you prove that?"

Luffy mumbled something and reached for another bat. He waited for his old man to bowl.

He waited and waited…and waited.

Luffy stood upright. "Grandpa," he whined, "can you throw…" he threw himself to the ground as the baseball flew overhead. "Oww…" he looked up in time to see another ball on collision course with his face. He rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the assault as it buried itself ten metres into the ground – and still going.

Luffy got to his knees only to throw himself to the side again. It was an onslaught of baseballs. The young boy found himself running madly through the attacks, hands over his head, escaping his grandpa's strange way of 'having a day out with his grandson'.

Makino swapped the basket from one arm to another and finally topped the hill. The smile on her face faltered – the once peaceful scenery had turned into a battlefield. The land now sported craters the size of which the moon would envy. She cautiously edged her way through the devastation and towards the General.

"Ah…Mr. Garp?" she asked cautiously, "where's Luffy?"

"Dead," declared the old man proudly. "Got him myself."

"I AM NOT DEAD!"

The two adults watched as a hand grabbed the edge of a crater, followed by an arm, a straw-hat and finally a head. Luffy hauled his body over the lip and stood up. He lowered his hat and said darkly: "I'm not dead."

Garp grinned. "Good lad. I didn't expect anything less."

Makino smiled too.

"But," the old general continued. "I was hoping that you would attack. Running around like a chook without a head makes me look bad."

Luffy shot forward, launching his fist out in front of him. "GOMU GOMU NO PISTOL!" His grandfather had moved before contact could be made.

The old man grabbed the straying rubber with an iron fist. "I SAID YOU HAVE TO RETRACT FASTER!"

The rubber boy did so, bringing along his old man.

"UGH!" Luffy grunted, as the general approached. "GET OFF!"

Makino watched with a smile as Monkey D Garp pummelled Monkey D Luffy into the ground.

"TAKE THAT LUFFY! AND THAT! AND THAT! AND THIS! AND MORE!..."

* * *

Luffy scratched his bandages idly as Garp went around packing various bags and suitcases. The old man lifted the luggage and carried it to the door. 

"Right," he said, turning to his mummified grandson. "Luffy, I'll be gone for a week on important Marine business – which is so top secret, I'm not even aloud to tell my own grandson that in this suitcase," he pointed to a black one, "is a powerful document that the government really needs to enforce this new super law that will change this world forever. That's how secret this mission is. Got it?"

Luffy managed to nod.

"Good. Now," he pulled on his marine coat. "I want you to continue your training while I'm gone – you're not to miss one single day. I want to see some developed muscles when I get back – not little scrawny limbs."

Another nod.

"There'll be food in the pantry – but I've paid for any food you might consume at Makino's over the next week. And lastly," he glared at Luffy. "You're to get rid of that ridiculous straw hat."

"Huh? Why?" Luffy blinked at the question.

"Because, a marine has more fashion sense then that," Garp pulled his dog hat-mask over his own head and picked up his entire luggage. "A strong marine, boy! Give your grandpa a hug."

Managing to do so without making a face, Luffy stiffly hugged his old man. "Bye Grandpa!" He chirped as brightly as he could through the bandages.

"See ya, lad."

The old general turned sharply on his heels and left Fusha village aboard a marine vessel. Which to Luffy, was nothing compared to a pirate's ship.

The moment Luffy watched the sails of the marine ship unfurl and sail away, he unwound all his bandages. Seven days with no adult around was like…was like…Luffy paused to think about it.

Was like having seven days with no adult around!

The teen punched the air with a 'whoot' and ran outside.

* * *

"MAKINO MAKNIO!" 

The bar tender looked up in time to see the future pirate king crash into the table. "You seem excited, Luffy," she beamed, serving his previously prepared lunch. "What have you been up to?"

Luffy shovelled the food into his mouth. "Grandpa left," he grunted. "He's gone…" he swallowed. "For a whole week!"

Makino smiled brightly. "Don't you think this is the time…"

"Sorry Makino!" Luffy raced to the door and turned back quickly. "Lots of things to do!" He zoomed away.

Makino shook her head and went off to prepare.

* * *

Luffy bent down and picked up a stick, saluting it to the sky. "I am the great explorer," he declared to the surrounding trees. "My name is Monkey D. Luffy and I will become the Pirate King of Explorers!" He mimicked a trumpet sound through his lips before continuing on his path to greatness, talking to himself and his imaginary followers. 

"Go my strong swordsman, Satoshi! Slice him down with one strike," Luffy mimed a swordsman with his stick. "Hahaha! Good work Satoshi, I expected nothing less. Now you, my musician, punch the villain with your…umm…drums of fury!"

Of course the poor bush stood no chance against the "drums of fury".

"Now...eh?" The young straw-hat stopped in the middle of his next battle plan and looked about himself. He hadn't noticed how far he had gone from Fusha village – or how long he had been walking. He was standing in a small clearing, surrounded by tall and dark trees of various species. A howl, carried by the ghostly wind echoed through the trees.

Luffy hugged the stick to his chest. "Hello," he called out to the nothingness – and for good measure, "Grandpa?"

There came no response and he dropped his shoulders in relief. "Thank god," he grinned to himself. "Now…" his stomach growled dangerously, "to get something to eat!"

He threw the stick expertly through the air.

* * *

Garp nodded his gruff head and took another large gulp from his mug of sake. "That's right," he growled loudly, "my grandson could whip all your arses in seconds. You're nothing compared to him!" The old general laughed heartily. 

The marine sailors that had gathered around him chuckled uncertainly.

One sailor, however, raised his voice. "How can a mere child defeat great sea-men like us?" He was either very brave or incredibly stupid – no one dared to back him up.

Monkey D. Garp's right eye bulged as he singled out the opposing marine. "What? You find that hard to swallow?" He drank heavily from his tankard.

"Umm," the sailor's face paled. "Well, yeah…it is. I mean, this is the first time you've ever told us that you even _have_ a grandson."

A silence five atmospheres thick settled over the entire conversation. Garp's eyes appeared over the brim of his tankard, before he placed it on the table with a clunk.

"Really…?" He imbedded his pinkie-finger into his nostril, in thought.

The surrounding sailor's nodded slowly.

"Hnn, forget that I said anything."

The air was filled with the sound of men falling off their chairs in disbelief.

* * *

Luffy engraved another day into the wood and leaned back to count them. Six days. Not including the day that he started out on this crazy adventure. But what an adventure is was! Luffy had, in some strange way, obeyed his grandfather and trained every single day. Defeating bears of unnatural size, lions of unmatched ferocity and hunting rabbits, that were smarter then they looked. 

And…unfortunately they had a lot of friends.

Luffy looked down from his perch high up in the canopy of a tree. It was as though the entire animal kingdom was down there – searching for him. Luffy peeled back the branches and peered out; it was only a matter of time before those vultures came and searched the tree that he had been living in for the past six days.

Luffy let go of the branch. It was time for some drastic measures. Those bunnies were going to wish they had never gone against him, the future Pirate King!

Luffy felt the branch beneath him groan – six days holding a lump of rubber was taking its toll. With a shout, the straw-hat boy fell out of the tree.

At once, the animals looked up and grinned. Especially the rabbits whose grins were broadest.

Luffy squirmed through the air, struggling to catch hold of something that would break his fall. He splattered into the ground – much to the disappointment of the forest animals. They turned their tails and if animals could groan, they were groaning. Within moments, Luffy found himself in a completely animal free surrounding.

He chuckled to himself. "Idiot-animals. Now," Luffy pocketed his hands, "let's go back home! Go my musician…err…I mean navigator!"

* * *

Makino shouted again through her hands. "LUFFY? LUUUUUFFY?" She looked about herself, the forest was dark and very dense. She hoped Luffy had managed to go… 

A noise coming from behind broke her chain of thought. She spun around to find… "Luffy!"

"Oooh," the teen groaned, leaning heavily on tree branch. "Makino! I'm so happy I found you! I'm so hungry!"

Makino handed him a leg of meat. "I thought you'd be out here."

Luffy eagerly took the food and began to tear it apart. "Really? Why?"

"Don't you remember?" Makino handed him another leg, "Garp took you camping here."

"Uh-huh…camping." He painfully conjured up the memories – how he had to carry Ace and two fifty kilo backpacks all the way back to Fusha village.

"Anyway, Luffy," Makino carried on, slightly more hurried. "Garp is coming back in an hour..."

Luffy made a face. "I was hoping his ship would sink."

"You have to go _now_!"

The young pirate's eyes widened. "Go? Where?"

"After Ace! I've set it up for you already. While Garp was gone, I thought it would be the best time to go out to sea."

"Crap!" Luffy grabbed his hat and pulled on the edges. "I have to go before the fart gets back! I need a boat, Makino!"

The bar tender smiled and pointed to the trees. "If you follow the edge of the forest, you'll hit the bay. I've got a boat and provisions waiting for you there."

The straw hat kid grinned. "Thanks Makino," he gave her a brief hug. "You're the best. See ya!" He crashed his way into the undergrowth.

Luffy followed the forest around to the bay, where a small boat was floating on the water. Inside was a barrel, ready to supply him with his daily consumption needs. With a grin, he pushed the boat of from the shallows and climbed aboard.

Makino stood along with the villagers as they watched the small boat tip the horizon and disappear from their sights. She sighed, "Well, he finally left."

The old chief of Fusha village grumbled, "He'll ruin this town's reputation."

…_later that same day…_

General Monkey D. Garp stormed into the bar. "And where in the blazes did my pirate-loving grandson sneak off to?"

Makino placed a plate on the counter top and poured out a glass of whisky for the old Marine. "He left, you just missed him."

The Marine sat down and took the drink. "Did he do his training?"

"Yes. He punched the big sea monster out of the waters, which was quite impressive," Makino told him.

Garp swallowed thirstily. "Ah, he'll be a strong marine."

The bar tender grimaced. "I think he said he was going to become Pirate King."

Garp spat out his drink and shouted, "WHAT!?"

* * *

…_one week later…_

The yellow sands and blue calm seas were just the way he remembered them. After three years, nothing had changed. Ace dragged his water-craft up onto the beach and set off for town. It was a few minutes walk before he reached the old bar he had visited so many times in his childhood; he noted the new coat of paint and the bustling people inside. He entered. No one looked up as he made his way to the counter, which suited him fine.

"Makino," he called.

She looked up from the man she was serving and grinned. Neglecting the customer, she zoomed over to serve him. "Ace! How are you?"

"Great! This place seems to be doing well. How're you and Luffy?"

Makino poured him his sake. "Oh I'm fine, keeping busy and Luffy…"

"I knew it!" Ace crowed. "He's _still_ here, right?"

She shook her head. "You've missed him by a week."

Ace's jaw dropped in disbelief. "The stupid blob of bloody gloop!" He skulled his sake, passed Makino the money and was about to leave when… "What about Grandpa?"

"Garp's left too."

"Jeez. Bye Makino!"

"Bye Ace!"

Ace pulled his craft back into the water, grumbling to himself. "He could've at least written a letter!"

* * *

**OWARI! Well that's it. All done. I thought Ace coming back would link nicely with him meeting Luffy in Arabasta. **

**Thanks to all those who've reviewed and read this story! Hope you all enjoyed! **

**- Giri **


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